State helps Michigan hospital in meningitis outbreak

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — State regulators have cut through red tape to allow an Ann Arbor hospital to treat more people affected by a national meningitis outbreak.

The Department of Community Health says it granted emergency approval for a mobile MRI service at St. Joseph Mercy Health System. The state says St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor has treated more patients than any hospital in the country.

Tainted steroids have been blamed for an outbreak that has caused 65 meningitis cases in Michigan and 86 cases of epidural abscesses, a collection of infected tissue. Nine Michigan residents have died.

State regulators expedited St. Joseph Mercy’s request to expand operating rooms, which are critical to detecting and treating the growing number of cases.